This is intended as brief precis of the moons and similar, observed facts, and beliefs. The Observed bits are what I think pretty much all cultures agree on (or don't disagree about anyway) (though not all list members may feel the same), the Interpretation the culture specific parts.
This is, AFAIK, as correct as possible according to Greg's current ideas, but highly subject to gregging anyway (he is still playing around with this stuff). It is hopefully not subject to Sandying (or at least in the major details), as I have attempted to integrate his comments on the issue. It has already been Metcalfed, but not to worry about that.....
NB - the Annilla writeup appears to be an attempt to squash at least two, probably three or more, different blue moon cults that had little to do with each other into one. I've assumed that the cult writeup of Troll Gods, which is probably largely wrong anyway, represents the views of the trolls of the Blue Moon Plateau.
| Observed | Interpretation |
| A long time ago (100,000 to 75,000), there were very different planets in the sky, and the sun. A rogue celestial body (known as Umatum to the Yuthuppans, the big authority on this stuff) entered the sky, and all manner of changes started to happen. During this time there was a white planet, which moved in odd ways. | AFAIK no one but the Yuthuppans recorded this stuff (other culture know of it, but generally they get their knowledge from the Yuthuppans). You will be able to find out what they thought from elsewhere on this web site, or you may have worked it out from other sources (the appendices at the back of the Ivory Pages edition of GRoY are the best place to start). |
| One of the planets was a white planet. It started to move in strange ways across the sky. Eventually, it dipped below the horizon and disappeared. It was never seen again in that form, but a similar red body rose. The new red planet is worshipped by some peoples, including the Dara Happans from the city of Mernita (where the Blue Moon plateau is now). | According to the Lunars, the white moon (Veritherusa) dips below the horizon, sees the underworld and changes colour to red and rises again. According to the Dara Happans, they aren't quite sure what happened to Veritherusus (at least its not in GRoY, the Yuthuppans may have better records than the Yelmies), but they know it was there, isn't there now, and a red planet called Sedenya appeared that had something to do with it. AFAIK no one else has records of this era, or cares much. |
| There is no longer a red body, there is now a blue one. It is lower in the sky. This happens just after the subsidence of the great flood in Dara Happa (Lesser Darkness period). | The Lunars believe the Red goddess Sedenya has fallen to lower in the sky, and is now called Lesilla. The Artmali believe the Blue Moon has risen. |
| The blue moon falls from the sky. A large chunk of it falls on Mernita. | The Dara Happans believe that someone destroys the Blue Moon for its opposition to Yelm (either Emperor Lukarius or Shargash, depending on who you are?). The Artmali believe that the Blue moon is killed too, but I don't know who they think does it. This may be when disasters befall the Veldang empire. The Blue Moon trolls believe the Blue Moon is injured, by mysterious beings (their names are in the Troll Gods writeup), and a large part of her falls on Mernita, but she lives. |
| The sky goes dark. No celestial bodies are seen for a while. | This is called the Great Darkness by many folks, the Bleak Period or Kazkurtum by the Dara Happans. The Lunars believe that the moon goddess is either in hell, or incarnated as a human being, at various times during this period. The Artmali believe the blue moon is in the underworld. |
| The blue streak is seen in the sky when the great darkness ends. The blue streak dives from Pole Star into Magasta's Pool every 2-7 days. | I'm not quite sure what the Lunars believe. They believe in a deity in the sky, called Orogeria, but I know next to nothing about her celestial form (though I know there was one), so it could be the same as the blue streak or it could be something else. The Blue Moon trolls believe that the blue streak is the single part that remains in the sky, but they have a closer relationship with the part of her body that they live in (its almost as if they have her kept a part of her body alive when it should have died, an undead goddess). The Artmali believe this is their blue moon goddess resurrected, but they acknowledge she is weaker. |
| The blue streak is still there today | The Lunars probably believe that this is a ghost or similar of the blue moon. The Annila trolls and the Veldang believe that the blue streak is what remains of the Blue Moon after she was cast out of heaven. |